The present invention relates to a smoke detector for use in protecting occupants of a building and, more particularly, to a smoke detector signal light device which when activated will show the location of a door knob to the occupant of a room or, more particularly, to the location of an occupied room through a window to fire or rescue personnel on the outside.
Smoke detectors are most commonly operatively connected to an audible alarm to provide a signal of smoke and/or a fire to the occupants of a building. It is also known to operatively connect a light to a smoke alarm. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,148,023 and 4,717,910 disclose smoke detectors that include built-in emergency lights, as well as the usual audible alarm. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,227,191, 4,258,291, 4,489,308 and 5,140,301 all describe smoke alarm-activated lights which illuminate or show the location of a door to the occupant of a building. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,886,637 discloses a smoke detector built into the upper edge of a door that includes a signal light and an audible alarm.
None of the foregoing patents, however, disclose or suggest the use of a smoke alarm and signal light in direct association with a door knob or similar door operator to pinpoint the location thereof to an occupant.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,177,461 describes a window-mounted signal light that can be observed from outside the building that is activated by a smoke detector including an audible alarm housed in a conventional ceiling-mounted unit separate from the lighted signaled device. U.S. Pat. No. 4,612,535 describes an outdoor audible alarm that is activated by a separate indoor smoke detector. U.S. Pat. No. 5,745,040 describes an exterior audible and visible signaling device that is activated by a smoke alarm inside the building.
The foregoing prior art, however, does not show or suggest a unitary smoke detector and lighted signal device that can be attached to a window to provide a lighted indication of the presence of a building occupant to fire or rescue personnel on the outside.